tanist.dkThe Grim Tale of the Mushroom Tramplers
"The troll became incredibly angry and left its stone, to go to the Christian land and burn down the ugly church" - Finntroll - Trollvisan
Around the time of the first millennium, a tough civilization lived in Scandinavia. They had a very well-established society, which in many ways is admirable even to this day. For example, women were not oppressed, but instead highly respected both as wives and as warriors. There was nothing that could instill fear like a well-trained shieldmaiden on the battlefield.
Although they mostly lived as farmers, their legacy is cemented as tough warriors who killed each other as they pleased. It's not necessarily untrue, but there was much more to it than just death and destruction.
They had, among other things, a very strong and colorful religion, which was not only full of the most fantastic stories, but also, despite the adventurous tales, incredibly down-to-earth. One could worship the sun, the moon, in fact, the entire nature if one wanted to, and they had a god for almost everything. A god for lightning and thunder, a god for love, and so on.
When Christianity came to Scandinavia and began its terror attacks on the north, their purpose was to eradicate the existing religion and replace it with their own, regardless of whether it required violence and power. If people did not want to convert, they could be killed so others converted in fear for their lives. Such things would not be tolerated today, but because it was so many years ago, it is not even considered as terror on a societal level today.
One of the first things the Christians did, as soon as they had gained enough power, was to destroy the existing religious buildings and/or sites, and in order for this invasive religion, which only aimed to spread like a religious cancer, to get their buildings up and running, was by reusing the materials from the old, now destroyed, religious constructions, or by going into the forest to find material.
What they did not know was that in the north not only humans lived. There was actually a very diverse range of different creatures, which the Scandinavians had found a way to live in peace and co-existence with. There was a great respect between humans and the creatures, a respect that was not upheld by the Christian invasion.
One of the most popular stories from ancient times is the story of the troll, who could not figure out why it had such a terrible headache. It was not something it used to have, and it was very annoyed by the headache that had arisen almost overnight.
The other creatures in the forest tried to help the troll find the source of the pain, but there was not much they could do to find the answer, and they then tried to help the troll get rid of the headache, which was about to make the troll very angry. First, they threw water at the troll, but quickly learned that it was a bad idea. Then they brought food to the troll, and learned that it was a good idea, so they continued with that because there are few things as merciless as an angry troll.
The nights passed and the troll could only barely endure existence from the help of its friends, until one day the Christians had been in the forest and felled, what they believed was, their rightful trees, to the great displeasure of the forest creatures. The Christian people had cut down the trees that previously had blocked a terrible sound coming from their conquered area. The sound, which hit straight into the troll's head, was the most disgusting sound the troll had ever heard. It was an indescribable noise, and the troll was about to lose its good mood over it.
Despite the pains in the ears, the troll went closer to the edge of the forest, and could see a terribly ugly building, right in the middle of the Christians' land. It was raised a little above the others, and had a tower on it. In the tower sat a large inverted bowl, which thundered and roared, and then the troll discovered where its headache came from.
It is widely known that trolls do not like to crash buildings on an empty stomach, so no one would question that the troll would strengthen itself with some mead and food, before it would do something about the nuisance that the Christians had brought with them.
The troll went to its pantry, and discovered that its mead was gone. The troll got very angry and shouted out into the forest for whoever had taken its mead, but no animals in the forest or the deep caves knew who had taken the troll's mead.
The troll now saw that its mushrooms had been trampled down. The troll got angrier and shouted again at whoever had trampled on its mushrooms, but no animals in the forest or the children of the sky knew who had trampled all the mushrooms.
When the troll, which now only had its meat left, was well underway with eating, the rats came out, and told the troll that it was the Christians who had taken the troll's mead and that it was the Christians who had trampled the troll's mushrooms.
The troll became incredibly angry and left its stone, to go to the Christian land and burn down the ugly church, and that is how the dirty mushroom tramplers learned that one does not mess with a troll.
Today, beings like trolls only belong in fairy tales, and they are often portraied as some small sweet trolls who could not do any harm, but reality is different. The trolls, and the other beings, learned a harsh lesson when the Christian cancer came to Scandinavia, and there is a reason why you do not see a troll anywhere anymore. They have learned to keep for them selves, but if you know what to look for, and if you look closely, you can find signs of the life of these creatures, but be ware!
If they can smell dirty Christian blood, it'll be worse for yourself.